While the Georgia runoff still awaits, as of the writing of this article, Democrats have defied political history and maintained their razor-thin Senate majority past the midterm elections. With the loss of the House, Democrats are unlikely to pass transformative legislation in the next two years, freeing the Senate to prioritize nominations (where the House has no role). Court watchers will likely welcome this, as, despite historic successes with their razor-thin majority, the Biden Administration has little time to rest if it intends to fill a sizeable proportion of the 100+ lower court vacancies currently pending in the federal judiciary. Currently, there are sixteen circuit court vacancies and ninety-seven district court vacancies pending (including seats announced to be vacated but currently still full). In comparison, 56 judicial nominees are currently before the senate, twelve to circuit courts and 44 to district courts. As the Biden Administration and Senate Democrats turn to nominations and confirmations, it’s useful to look again at the current landscape.
As a reminder, the process for choosing circuit and district court nominees is fairly different. After the practice of requiring blue slips for appellate nominees was terminated during the Trump Administration, the Administration is under no obligation to secure pre-approval from home state senators before the nominee can receive a hearing. However, in practice, the Administration is still incentivized to consult with home state senators, which can slow down the nomination process, particularly in states with Republican senators.
Unlike circuit court vacancies, district court seats still require home state approval in order to be confirmed. This means that the ball is largely in the senators’ court in terms of naming nominees. This doesn’t mean that the Administration is completely absent from the process. It is still responsible for prodding senators, negotiating agreements, and choosing the right candidate. In fact, the Administration started right off the gate with an announcement that it expected recommendations for vacancies within 90 days of the announcement. This makes it all the more surprising the sheer number of district court seats that sit without nominees today.
This split is less surprising in states that only have Republican Senators, a group which includes thirty-five district court vacancies without nominees: six in Florida; five in Texas; three in Indiana and Louisiana; two each in Alabama, Missouri and Oklahoma; and one each in Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Wyoming. Many of the home state senators in these states have been fairly open about their unwillingness to work with the Administration on a nominee. However, others have been more willing to be involved, with Iowa senators, for example, recommending U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Locher, a young Democrat, to the bench (Locher was swiftly and unanimously confirmed). The lone district court nominee in a 2-Republican state is also the most recent, Scott Colom in Mississippi.
Similarly, in states with split delegations, the White House understandably needs to move with the support of home state Republican senators. It has had mixed luck in the states it has tried this with. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman returned blue slips for three nominees who were confirmed (one more remains pending). Similarly, the White House was able to reach a four nominee deal with Sen. Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania that included a nominee of his choice. In contrast, Sen. Ron Johnson has chosen to block a nominee that he previously signed off on.
Perhaps the most surprising in terms of vacancies without nominees are blue states or territories, where Democratic senators would presumably be incentivized to send recommendations quickly: yet, sixteen district court vacancies from blue states are nomineeless today, including four from California, three from New Jersey, two each from Connecticut, Illinois, and Michigan, and one each from Colorado, Maryland, and New York. A summary of this landscape follows:
D.C. Circuit – 1 vacancy out of 11 judgeships (one nominee pending)
The so-called “second highest court in the land”, the D.C. Circuit was the site of Biden’s first appointee when Jackson was confirmed to the court last June, a mere two months after her nomination. However, since that haste, a second vacancy languished for more than a year, taking nearly nine months after Judge David Tatel announced his departure from active status before Judge Michelle Childs was nominated, and taking Childs eight months to be confirmed. Jackson’s elevation to the Supreme Court reopened another vacancy, and the White House moved more quickly, elevating U.S. District Judge Florence Pan (confirmed in September). A fourth nominee, Brad Garcia remains pending on the Senate floor to fill the last remaining vacancy on the court, vacated by Judge Judith Ann Wilson Rogers.
The only district court that reports to the D.C. Circuit is the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The 15-judgeship court has one current vacancy, from Pan’s elevation, and one future vacancy, with Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly taking senior status upon confirmation of a successor. Nominees are pending for both vacancies with Ana Reyes currently awaiting a floor vote and Judge Todd Edelman having received a Judiciary Committee hearing last week.
First Circuit – 2 vacancies out of 6 judgeships (one nominee pending)
The smallest court of appeals in the country was also the sole geographically-based court not to see a single Trump appointment. Biden has already named Judge Gustavo Gelpi and Public Defender Lara Montecalvo to the court. Additionally, reproductive rights attorney Julie Rikelman is pending a vote before the Senate Judiciary Committee to replace Judge Sandra Lynch. The final seat, based in New Hampshire, was vacated by Judge Jeffrey Howard nearly nine months ago, and lacks a nominee. Given that New Hampshire has two Democratic senators, the lack of a nominee is puzzling.
The district courts covered by the First Circuit have five pending judicial vacancies, all of which have nominees. The District of Massachusetts has three current vacancies and three nominees pending, two of whom already have hearings.
The District Court for the District of Puerto Rico is down two judges, with nominees to fill the seats already on the Senate floor. A final Senate vote on Judge Camille Velez-Rive is expected next week, which should leave Judge Gina Mendez-Miro as the sole pending P.R. nominee.
Second Circuit – 1 vacancy out of 13 judgeships (one nominee pending)
Having replaced five left-leaning judges on the Second Circuit, the Biden Administration has already had a significant impact on the court. However, Justice Maria Araujo Kahn, nominated to replace 81-year-old conservative Jose Cabranes, remains pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee and has a long line of nominees ahead of her to be confirmed.
Connecticut, which saw three Biden appointees hit the bench last year, is one of the worse blue states when it comes to nomineeless vacancies, with two of the eight active judgeships vacant and no nominees on the horizon.
Meanwhile, the district courts in New York are also shortstaffed, with nine vacancies among them. The hardest hit is the Eastern District of New York, which has four vacancies out of sixteen judgeships, The bright side for the White House is that eight of the nine vacancies have nominees pending. The down side is that only three of the nominees are currently on the Senate floor (with one, Anne Nardacci, expected to be confirmed next week). Two of the longer pending nominees, Southern District of New York picks Dale Ho and Jessica Clarke, are currently bottled up in Committee, pending a discharge vote. Three more await hearings.
Third Circuit – 2 vacancies out of 14 judgeships (two nominees pending)
This moderate court currently has one Biden nominee confirmed (Arianna Freeman nominated to replace Judge Theodore McKee) but Judges Thomas Ambro and Brooks Smith don’t have replacements yet although nominees are pending on the Senate floor for both seats and should, if prioritized, be confirmed easily.
Two of the three states covered by the Third Circuit have judicial vacancies. The biggest number are in Pennsylvania, which has seven vacancies, four of which have nominees, the aforementioned four nominee deal. With Democrat John Fetterman replacing Toomey, it is likely that new recommendations will be sent out for the remaining vacancies and they will likely not be confirmed in the next few months.
The District of New Jersey, vacancy-ridden when the Biden Administration came to office, is now down to three seats left to fill. However, none of the three vacancies have nominees pending even though the oldest dates back seven months. With control of the Senate solidified, it is likely that New Jersey will see new district court nominees shortly.
Fourth Circuit – 2 vacancies out of 15 judgeships (one nominee pending)
The Fourth Circuit currently has vacancies out of South Carolina and Maryland. Judge DeAndrea Benjamin, nominated to the South Carolina seat, has home state senator support and will likely be confirmed easily in the new Congress. However, the bigger surprise is that a Maryland vacancy announced last December still lacks a nominee. Maryland’s Democratic senators have a mixed record in the speed of recommendations and a district court vacancy in the state announced last year also lacks a nominee.
In other states, Virginia has two nominees pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a final vote. Their confirmations would fill all the remaining vacancies on the state’s district courts.
Additional vacancies exist in North Carolina and South Carolina. Both North Carolina and South Carolina have two Republican senators, so any nominee will largely depend on the White House’s negotiations.
Fifth Circuit – 2 vacancies out of 17 judgeships (one nominees pending)
The ultra-conservative Fifth Circuit became even more so when the youngest Democrat on the Fifth Circuit, Judge Gregg Costa, unexpectedly announced his resignation from the bench. Nine months after Costa’s announcement, there is still no nominee pending to replace him, although Judge Dana Douglas, nominated to replace Octogenarian liberal James Dennis, is poised for confirmation after bipartisan support in the Judiciary Committee.
On the district court level, both Louisiana and Texas have multiple district court vacancies and no hint of any nominee. Mississippi, on the other hand, despite having only one vacancy, does have a nominee: Scott Colom. While Mississippi senators have not yet announced support for Colom, they have not expressed opposition either, suggesting that Colom might be, surprisingly, on track for confirmation.
Sixth Circuit – 1 vacancies out of 16 judgeships (one nominee pending)
Of the three vacancies on the Sixth Circuit that opened in the Biden Administration, only the Ohio based seat of Judge R. Guy Cole remains open. Rachel Bloomekatz, nominated to replace Cole, is awaiting a discharge vote in the Judiciary Committee. It remains to be seen if Sen. Sherrod Brown will push for Bloomekatz to receive a final Senate vote by the end of the year.
On the district court level, each of the four states under the Sixth Circuit have vacancies pending. After the White House’s proposal to nominate conservative lawyer Chad Meredith to the Eastern District of Kentucky fell through, there remains no nominee to replace Judge Karen Caldwell, although Caldwell has reaffirmed that she will only leave the bench if a conservative is appointed to replace her.
The Eastern District of Michigan has four pending vacancies and two nominees (one on the Senate floor). Michigan’s Democratic senators have been relatively slow in naming nominees, so it’s unclear when nominees will hit the Senate for the remaining vacancies.
The Southern District of Ohio has a single vacancy, with a nominee, Jeffery Hopkins, pending a Judiciary Committee vote. With Sen. Rob Portman set to be replaced by J.D. Vance, it is possible that Democrats will prioritize Hopkins in an effort to fill the seat before Vance’s input is needed.
Finally, a vacancy is pending on the Western District of Tennessee. The White House and Tennessee Senators battled over the Sixth Circuit nomination of Andre Mathis, and while the White House ultimately won confirmation, other seats could become casualties. Nonetheless, the White House has put forward U.S. Attorney nominees with senatorial support in the state, suggesting that some common ground can be reached to fill the vacancy.
Seventh Circuit – 2 vacancies out of 11 judgeships (one nominee pending)
In addition to naming Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi and Judge John Lee to the Seventh Circuit, Biden has the chance to add two more judges to the court. Judge Doris Pryor, currently pending on the senate floor, is likely to be confirmed before the end of the year. However, the second vacancy, opened by Judge Michael Kanne’s death, lacks a nominee. Given the support Indiana’s Republican Senators gave to Pryor, the White House is likely to grant them deference in turn in cchoosing a nominee to replace Kanne.
On the district court level, Illinois nominees Lindsay Jenkins and Colleen Lawless are pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Northern District of Illinois has two more vacancies that are likely to get nominees shortly.
Meanwhile, three vacancies are pending in Indiana without nominees. It is likely that the White House may lump these nominees into a package with the Kanne seat to allow for all the seats to be filled at once.
Wisconsin is likely a sign of frustration for the White House as Senator Ron Johnson has now blocked both a federal judge nominee and a U.S. Attorney nominee that he previously signed off on. With Johnson’s narrow re-election, it is likely that the nomination of Judge William Pocan is dead, and the White House and senators will have to renegotiate a new nominee to replace Judge William Griesbach.
Eighth Circuit – 0 vacancies out of 11 judgeships
While the Eighth Circuit remains the sole court of appeals not to see a vacancy open under Biden, there are a number of vacancies open in the district courts covered under the Circuit, including one each in Arkansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota, and two pending in Missouri. Of these, only the seat in Minnesota has a nominee (Jerry Blackwell, who is awaiting a floor vote). Of the remaining vacancies, the White House has failed to nominate any U.S. Attorneys in those states, boding poorly for the likelihood of any agreement on judicial nominees.
Ninth Circuit – 1 vacancies out of 29 judgeships (one nominee pending)
Compared to other courts of appeals, the White House has had comparative success in confirming judges to the Ninth Circuit, naming six, with a seventh pending a judiciary committee vote. The district courts covered by the Ninth Circuit were equally successful for the White House, which has already confirmed 19 judges to (compared 14 judges that the Trump Administration named over four years).
An additional 13 nominees are currently pending to fill 19 vacancies, eight in California, four in Washington, and one in Oregon. Of the seats needing nominees, four are in California (two on the Central District and two on the Southern District). Another two are in Alaska and Idaho respectively, which have two Republican senators apiece.
Tenth Circuit – 1 vacancy out of 12 judgeships (one nominee pending)
The Kansas seat vacated by Judge Mary Briscoe is the oldest appellate vacancy in the country. Judge Briscoe announced her move to senior status in January 2021, and a nominee, Jabari Wamble, was announced in August 2022. Wamble has yet to have a Committee hearing but could, in theory, be confirmed early next year.
Among the states covered by the Tenth Circuit, there are eight district court vacancies, out of which two have nominees. Five of the six nomineeless vacancies are in states with two Republican senators, with particularly long-pending vacancies in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Utah, in particular. Given the nomination of Wamble in Kansas and the successful confirmation of Trina Higgins to be U.S. Attorney in Utah, it is possible that the White House is able to reach an agreement with senators to fill the vacancies shortly.
Eleventh Circuit – 1 vacancy out of 12 judgeships (one nominee pending)
Judge Beverly Martin announced her retirement from the Eleventh Circuit in July, ultimately leaving the court in late September. The Biden Administration nominated civil rights attorney Nancy Abudu to the court in December, but then unwittingly delayed Abudu’s hearing by quixotically claiming that she was under Supreme Court consideration. While no serious observer believed that Abudu would be nominated to the Supreme Court, her consideration ensured that Abudu’s nomination would not be processed until a nominee was named. Furthermore, Abudu’s nomination proved deeply controversial and deadlocked in Committee, forcing a discharge vote that has yet to occur. Given the risk to Abudu’s nomination if Warnock were to lose, it is likely that Democrats would seek to prioritize her nomination if the runoff went poorly.
On the district court level, Alabama has two pending vacancies, one from the elevation of Judge Andrew Brasher in the Trump Administration, and the second from Judge Abdul Kallon’s untimely resignation. Both lack nominees as outgoing Republican senator Richard Shelby expressed his opposition to any left-of-center nominee. With Shelby’s retirement and the election of Katie Britt to the Senate, it remains to be seen if a package can be reached (it’s possible that Alabama senators may demand the renomination of Trump nominee Edmund LaCour.
Meanwhile, Florida has more nominee-less vacancies than any other state: six. Both Senator Marco Rubio and Florida’s Democratic House delegation recommended attorney Detra Shaw-Wilder (a Democrat) to the Southern District of Florida last year, but no nominee has hit the Senate yet. The recent announcements of U.S. Attorney nominees to two of the three open positions in Florida, however, could presage a thaw in negotiations over the state’s appointments.
Conclusion
On one side, one could argue that the Senate has plenty of time to fill these vacancies, as well as more that will inevitably open over the next two years. After all, despite a packed legislative calendar, the Senate has already confirmed eighty-five nominees (and will likely confirm more before the end of the Congress). However, it’s also important to recognize the fragility of the Democrat’s narrow majority. Just because 50 members held together over the last two years is no guarantee that it will last another two. In a sense, winning the Georgia runoff and securing a 51st seat will be all the more important for Democrats if they seek to rival Trump’s judicial legacy.
The Vetting Room 
I’ll go with what a couple of others have said.
Murphy should be held until the end to see if Republicans want to play nice.
If they don’t, his final confirmation vote can go in the trash can for someone new.
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As bad as that was, the deal for the circuit court nominees was worse.
Federalist Society Judge Britt Grant is on the 11th Circuit solely because of Patrick Leahy sticking to the blue slip rule for Circuit court judges, which meant instead of being able to flip a seat, Obama had to nominate conservative George Sr. Judge Julie Carnes instead.
Needless to say, she didn’t waste any time in taking senior status under Trump and thus gifted McConnell with a seat that could and should have been filled with a liberal/moderate jurist under Obama, the 2nd time that happened on the 11th.
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It’s absolutely disgusting. That Georgia deal should have been enough to break the back of blue slips.
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The 7th Circuit court vacancy in Wisconsin should have been enough for that.
Judge Terence T. Evans took senior status in 2010 with the firm belief a liberal or even moderate jurist would be taking his place.
That never happened and as his daughter put in a twitter thread talking about this, her father would have been horrified not only by the hack who ended up replacing him(a hypocrite who demanded the blue slip rule be honored under Democrats but didn’t care if Republicans ignored it) but by the stupidity that allowed it.
As I’ve said before, you can’t change the past but it will irk me to no end Trump/McConnell were able to get 54 Circuit Court vacancies filled with right wing hacks(not to mention George W getting confirmations of nine of the same after 06 when Democrats controlled the Senate) because Leahy was longing for a Senate that was gone after the Republican Revolution and not coming back.
Whatever good he did in other areas and his Batman cameos will always be overshadowed by his stupidity on the courts for me.
Thank goodness under Durbin for Circuit courts that stupidity hasn’t stuck which is why the 3rd Circuit will soon be an evenly split court and how vacancies in other areas won’t be subjected to the same “deals” Obama and Clinton had to do.
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That’s a good point that often gets overlooked. GW Bush got 9 circuit court judges after Democrats took the majority in 2006. Knowing Obama only got 2 confirmed in his finally two years (And one was for the Federal Circuit which usually gets little to no opposition) really adds to the gut punch of the 54 Trump got thanks to that very opposition.
Please let 14 circuit court judges leave the bench over the next year & a half so Biden can pass Trump’s 54.
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Helene White was part of a package deal for another conservative jurist but even that, that was still too many for W.
He should have been told to pick moderate nominees instead of federalist society ones or what was done to Clinton (keeping seats open) was what was going to be done to him.
But we had to play nice and thus cost Obama more seats that he could and should have been able to fill with moderate/liberal jurists.
Makes my blood boil thinking about it.
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@Zack Jones
“…Leahy was longing for a Senate that was gone after the Republican Revolution and not coming back.”
This is exactly what I’ve told a few on this site that pine for those pre-historic days There are a lot more Leahys put there with this save naive mentality, stuck in the “good” old days of faux bipartisanship.
Kathryn Ruemmler
How can we say that Dems have learned their lessons from 2014? the Chad Meredith deal nearly happened, just this year. We cannot take it for granted that this couldn’t happen again.
And if you think that backlash would stop Biden for entering into such a deal gain, let’s remember that Biden stuck with the deal after Dobbs and after the uproar. But for Rand Paul, Meredith would probably be on the district court bench right now, keeping it warm until a Republican president elevated him to the 6th circuit.
While I don’t generally subscribe to the progressive beliefs about the inherent unsuitability of corporate attorneys, Ruemmler’s stewardship of judicial nominations cuts against me.
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@Gavi
Very good point about Chad Meredith. Especially, to your point, him being a 41-year-old ultra conservative that would have been primed for elevation.
I would argue however that Meredith isn’t the worst mark on Biden’s term related to the judiciary so far. Leaving 4 circuit court seats without a nominee would have been worse had the Democrats lost the majority. Trump left 2 vacant but in both cases the judge left after the start of September. Those 4 seats being left vacant, let alone without a nominee would have been the worst dereliction of duty regarding the judiciary in my opinion.
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Was reading up on possible nominees for the 1st Circuit vacancy and someone made a good point about why Samantha Elliott might be the front runner for the seat.
Aside from the fact she does have a good background lots of progressive/moderate folks like, her confirmation as a district court judge means she has already gone through the background checks etc. and thus it will mean less time going through the motions if she’s nominated.
The ACLU candidates from Dequan’s list will be fine as well though and I honestly would prefer it would be one of them.
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I think all three ACLU lawyers I suggested bring a different dynamic that would make them a good addition.
Gilles Bissonnette – He’s my personal favorite. I think he would be the best Whie man Biden appeals court judge & probably only behind Pitts overall. He’s a former professor & he has litigated cases on the criminalization of poverty, voting, police and government accountability, public records, the First Amendment, immigrants’ rights, and criminal justice issues.
Devon Chaffee – She would make the first circuit an even 3-3 man to woman split. She worked to stop biased policing, prisoner abuse, privacy violations, and free speech infringement. Prior to joining the ACLU, she served as Advocacy Counsel at Human Rights First, fighting against U.S. counterterrorism and national security policies that violate human rights.
Henry Klementowicz – With all of the antisemitism going on in the country, he would be a good pick. He worked with the New England Innocence Project. He also worked on voting rights, governmental records, due process, and freedom of speech.
All three are under 50 years old as well.
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I wouldn’t bother looking too much any of the ACLU names mentioned for the NH seat – I highly doubt they’ll be the nominee (even if they are considered). Neither Hassan nor Shaheen are particularly progressive, and this administration is definitely deferring more to senators in blue states than the Trump admin did to senators in red states.
If not Samantha Elliot, I suspect it will be someone who worked on Shaheen’s or Hassan’s campaigns. At least 3 of Biden’s COA nominees have been campaign counsels for senators in their states (Desai, Bloomekatz, Merriam). I wasn’t able to find who their campaign counsels are from a quick google search, but that’s at least worth looking into.
I’m not sure how likely this is, but it could potentially be Dana Remus (the White House Counsel that left a few months ago) – she’s from NH, taught at UNH Law, and was general counsel at the Obama Foundation before becoming Biden’s 2020 campaign counsel. My guess is that she doesn’t actually want to move back to NH since she’s back at Covington now, but maybe she needed to step away from the WHC’s office so they could evaluate her CA1 candidacy without appearing to have a conflict of interest.
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Hmmmm, I wasn’t aware had New Hampshire ties. I never looked into where she went to after she left The White House Counsel’s office but if she is just taking time off & didn’t start another career that definitely could put her in the mix.
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Hank those all make total sense. I suspect it’ll be one of those you mentioned, which is fine. Both Remus and Elliott are in their late 40s as well, which is good.
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For those of you that use Wikipedia, I just uploaded the last active judge on the United States Court of Federal Claims that did not have a picture. Here’s an updated list of active judges that don’t have profile pictures;
Circuit courts:
Ilana Rovner, Harris Hartz & Karen L. Henderson.
All of the Trump & Biden district court judges have pictures. Here are the Obama & GW Bush judges that do not have pictures.
Clay Daniel Land, Jay Christopher Zainey, Christopher Charles Conner, David Charles Godbey, Jose E. Martinez, James Edgar Kinkeade, Alia Moses,Thomas Alexander Varlan,Philip Peter Simon, Louise Wood Flanagan, Earl Leroy Yeakel III, Robert David Proctor, Ronald Allen White, Marcia Ann Cain Crone, Kenneth Michael Karas, Paul Steven Diamond, Jane Ellen Jackson Boyle, Robert Bryan Harwell, Timothy Carroll Batten Sr., Thomas Edward Johnston, Aida Milagros Delgado-Colón, Susan Davis Wigenton, Renee Marie Bumb, Thomas Lamson Ludington, Gregory Kent Frizzell, Robert James Jonker, Timothy D. DeGiusti, William Lindsay Osteen Jr., Martin Karl Reidinger, Sharion Marie Aycock, Robert Michael Dow Jr., Joseph Normand Laplante, Thomas David Schroeder, James Randal Hall, Mark Steven Davis, Paul G. Gardephe, Glenn Thomas Suddaby, Cathy Seibel, Eric Franklin Melgren
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Did you post the picture of Linda Lopez?
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Yesssirrr. Linda Lopez has another Wikipedia picture & I replaced it with a better one from her SJC hearing.
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Good to hear. In the picture I saw, Lopez looked like she was on trial for witchcraft.
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Haaaaa… Yea that was a bad one. Earlier this week I went through the DC Circuit & replaced Millet & Pillard’s pictures as well. Those were bad too. It’s a lot of work though so I can’t blame anybody for not taking the time to change them. I use Wikipedia a lot so I’d rather take time & get a good pic.
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Happy weekend to everyone. I happened to stumble on a youtube panel discussion with biden judge toby heytens (CA4) in williams& mary law school with trump judges bibas and kevin newsom, and i have to say i am really impressed with bibas and newsom,the latter in particular but really both, are they they some of the fairest and least hack trump circuit judges of the trump era? Newsom highlighted a point that in the last two enbanc decisions of his court he has dissented along with the ”libs”aka liberal judges both him and bibas seem very intelligent and atleast open minded ie you have a fair shot and a fear hearing. Do you guys think they are fair minded at-least compared to the vandykes and hos of the worlds. As a skeptic of all trump judges atleast from the outset they seem very learned and brilliant about the law
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I actually thought Bibas got a bad wrap when he was confirmed as a hack. He seemed to be a good pick relatively speaking in my opinion. Newsome on the other hand has surprised me. He has turned out to be much more fair than I would have thought. That is a pleasant surprise.
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Another judge who got a bad rap is Eric Miller of the 9th Circuit. Since joining the court, he’s made a good impression on everyone there.
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I think the bad feelings with Newsom come from the fact that he might be great on some issues but on voting rights and LGBT rights among others he has shown himself not to be.
Not to mention the fact that this is the other 11th Circuit court seat that could and should have been an Obama flip that would given us control of the 11th Circuit (along with Julie Carnes seat) but due to Leahy’s stupidity on the blue slips, it wasn’t.
If not for that, Trump/McConnell would have had only four appointments to the 11th Circuit.
That stings too but there is nothing that could have been done about that.
Of the four other judges on there who took senior status under Trump, sans Judge Tjofat who is in his 90’s, the George Sr judge and the two Orrin Hatch Clinton judges are all only in their early to mid 70’s and could have easily held out until Republicans either had the senate or the WH.
They were never going to allow their seats to be filled with a liberal jurist if they could help it.
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Yup. The 11th circuit would be a totally different court had Dems taken the judiciary seriously 2 years earlier then when Harry Reid nuked the filibuster. They should have known if you’re gonna do that, you mine as well go all the way & kill blue slips while you’re at it because Republicans damn sure would once they regain the majority.
I still don’t know why it took Republicans blocking 3 DC circuit seats from being filled by Obama for them to realize it. The multiple other seats that were being blocked well before then should have been enough.
I truly was hoping Judge Tjofat was trying to hold on until he died. I was so disappointed when he retired. I can only imagine who Biden could have tapped for a Florida seat. Plus he could have used that to negotiate with Rubio & Scott on all the district court vacancies.
Deal 1 – A reasonable consensus pick for the 11th circuit in exchange for all reasonable consensus pick Democrats for the district court seats.
Deal 2 – An abortion rights advocate in their 30’s for the 11th circuit with the threat of Durbin killing blue slips for Florida next year & we put all 30 & 40 year old ultra liberals in in district court vacancy.
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I was upset with several judges who took senior status or retired under Trump like Stanley Marcus, Ann Claire Williams and Tjofat among others, because they knew exactly what type of hack would replace them and they were okay with that.
It’s just a reminder that a lot of Republican jurists (as liberal as she was on a lot of issues, Williams was first put on the courts under Reagan) might be moderate on some issues but at the end of the day, are still loyal to the party that appointed them.
And in this case, it ensured the law in some areas will be to the far right for the next three to four decades.
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And in Ann Claire Williams case, she retired right after Trump took office. Then I see her on the ABA committee evaluating KBJ for the SCOTUS. Like I care about her opinion after what she did.
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Plus, she went to work for Jones Day, which is known for being more on the conservative law then not these days.
I do think Richard Posner would have stayed on and retired under Biden if not for the circumstances regarding his health.
I would also call out Harry Pregerson and Stephen Reinhardt of the 9th for staying as long as they did and not retiring to ensure their seats wouldn’t flip, though given what came out about Reinhardt, not surprised he put himself above the greater good.
If nothing else, he might have been great for progressive causes but it doesn’t mean as much when he was a terror to women who clerked for him.
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Omg I did not realize that Posner has Alzheimer’s. I did know that Posner has called for mandatory retirement for judges at age 80 so I thought that Posner’s exit was just self-imposition of the retirement by 80 rule.
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May she serve for decades to come
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The minute Rachel Bloomekatz hand comes off of the Bible for her swearing in, she should instantly be put on the short list for a SCOTUS vacancy.
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Yea she’s probably gonna replace kagan
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Yup, she and Myrna Perez (and of course Dale Ho) are my top three.
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I hope Abudu, Bloomekatz, Ho, Kato, and Rikelman all get floor votes as soon as possible after they’re voted out of committee. If Schumer files cloture immediately after the SJC votes then we could knock all five out the following week.
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If Warnock wins this week (fingers crossed) I do wonder if Schumer will decided to wait out the deadlocked nominees and simply renominate next year where there won’t be an issue with discharge votes or (and this is what we all think he should do) tell Toomey that if he wants to see Frank Murphy confirmed, he and the others can agree to waive the discharge vote time and let the up or down votes proceed.
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Schumer already teed up Murphy for early next week. That was a mistake. He’s the only pending nominee they have leverage with. Bad move. Schumer should have saved Murphy for last & got something out of getting him confirmed like fast tracking other nominees.
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Schumer has no clue what he is doing most of the time. He just randomly picks judges to bring up for a vote or needs other senators to badger him.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Toomey threatened Schumer and said something to the extent of, “I’m retiring, I sure as hell won’t let my Democratic successor throw out any of my picks. Vote on all 4 before I’m out of here or I’m going make your life hell” Schumer probably caved.
Aside from Murphy, the 3 Democratic candidates are not progressive. 2 of 3 them are moderate liberals at best. 1 I would say is a bonafide conservative. Toomey wants them on the bench.
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And exactly how can Toomey make Schumer’s life hell?
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If it’s 50-50, I suppose Toomey could tell Graham to vote no on every single nominee, but if it’s 51-49, Manchin & Sinema aren’t going to sink all of Biden’s nominees just because a former Pennsylvania senator is throwing a fit.
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Kai Scott seems like an ok pick. She’s a former federal defender. She’s 51 so that’s why I say just ok.
Kelley B. Hodge has been in Democrat politics for a while in Pennsylvania. I’ve seen others on this site say she’s conservative but I haven’t been able to find anything to verify that. She’s 50 so again there were younger picks but not bad.
Mia Perez seems like a solid pick. Not only is she a former federal defender Latina but she’s 41-year-old.
I’m ok with keeping the deal but not ok with the timing of next week. Schumer gets nothing out of confirming Murphy by doing it next week. The only thing I could think of is if Toomey told Schumer he will leave time next week & not show up the rest of the year. That will make it worth it so Dems would have a 50 – 49 advantage the rest of the year as they vote on legislation & more judges.
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I agree about Perez and Scott. I am hopeful about them, though I think being a former public defender is overrated.
It does seem to be a first job out of college, stepping stone for higher offices/ambitions like working for the district/us attorney’s office/prosecutor in many cases.
We can see that with former public defender Gelpi who is now a solid vote for the conservative block on the 1st circuit. Pryor, even if she is really moderate, was also a public defender who went on to work as a United States attorney.
I do have to disagree about Hodge, I think she is a horrible pick. She also started as a public defender but since 2004 has largely worked with the District Attorney putting people behind bars. Many of them for non violent drug related offenses. That’s why I have stopped putting emphasis on the pubic defender because in a lot of cases it has been just a stepping stone .
I still think Toomey played a large part behind the scenes.
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I saw one or two articles saying Biden was considering another nominee for the 1st Circuit but the Puerto Rico officials pushed hard for Gelpi. The article didn’t mention who the other possibility was but I would assume it was most likely Gina Miro or her wife who is the chief Justice of the P.R. SCOTUS. Either would have been a better pick.
The same happened with the three district court seats. I read Sulay Rios Fuentes was under consideration. She’s a federal defender & over a decade younger than the two PR judges that have already been confirmed. But P.R. officials pushed back because of her position on P.R. statehood. In both cases Biden went with the local officials nominee.
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I guess you listen to the local officials when there aren’t any Senators to represent. The dominant political party in PR is the New Progressive Party (NPP), which advocates for PR statehood. Some NPP members affiliate with the Democrats & others with the Republicans (Biden should only listen to local officials who affiliate with Dems and if I were him I would seek the input of NPP members who are actual progressives)
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@Dequan
Part of the reason that Gustavo Gelpi got chosen was Lindsay Graham. The Trump Administration had nominated Raúl Arias-Marxuach at the last minute after the election and while Democrats had no problem with him specifically, they objected to the timing. Graham didn’t hold a hearing as a gesture of good will. He called on Biden to re-nominate Arias-Marxuach. Biden didn’t do that, but nominated Gelpi has a concession of sorts.
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I remember Graham holding that hearing in December 2020 thinking to myself they really are going to try & ram through one last circuit court judge. Time just ran out on him. But if it pleases Graham then I guess it was worth it.
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He can still hold off a final vote on him and he should in exchange for fast tracking other judges.
Might also be possible at the end that some of the retiring senators leave early and thus make it easier to confirm judges that way.
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I don’t think we’ll have time to do any discharges anyway. They’ll almost certainly get pushed to next year (which is fine, there are a ton of district judges and other circuit judges that need votes anyway).
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I agree.
If Warnock wins, I honestly don’t see time being wasted on discharge votes, especially when there are plenty of other nominees needing to be confirmed.
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By my count, unless there are new nominees, in addition to Jabari Wamble, there are only five district court nominees who need a hearing.
Guessing those will be heard on the 14th.
Also expect we will have some more nominees by then to set up for the New Year.
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The following nominees still need a hearing not including William Pocan & Jorge Rodriguez…
Jabari Wamble
Andrew Schopler
Orelia Merchant
P. Casey Pitts
Arun Subramanian
Gordon Gallagher
Scott Colom
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Could see Gordon Gallagher getting pushed to next year given the judge he is replacing isn’t leaving until February.
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Looks like another district seat in Illinois is opening up. Should see many of these over the next couple of months.
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Unfortunately Gary Feinerman is one of the more liberal judges in Illinois so whoever replaces him will probably be to his right. I wish it was a Republican appointees but it seems only Obama judges are retiring early.
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Looks like he’s only 57 as well. Hopefully Biden and the WH get aggressive with this selection.
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Among the Dem appointees, Feinerman’s more of a moderate than a liberal – assuming they’re going to nominate someone from the list Durbin & Duckworth sent a while back, I’d guess that both Jeffrey Cummings and Karen Sheley would be to Feinerman’s left. Interesting that there are now 3 vacancies on NDIL – this means that 5 out of the 7 names on that list will become federal judges (unless they go back and get new recommendations, which could be possible).
I’m just hoping Karen Sheley is nominated this time, since I don’t think anyone on NDIL has worked at the ACLU (or at any public interest org) like she has. Given that none of the current active judges on the court are Black men, I would bet that one of them on the list will be nominated as well (though once Jenkins is confirmed, 4 out of 22 judges will be Black women). Of the three, I’m not sure who I would prefer – Jeffrey Cummings is much older but the most progressive, Daniel is another AUSA and they already picked Jenkins, and Gowen seems like your run-of-the-mill commercial litigator with nothing progressive in his background.
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The initial list itself is the problem. Out of all the names, only Nancy Maldonado & Karen Sheley were young progressives. The rest would be good purple or red state compromise picks. I was only expecting the NDIL to only have a couple vacancies. Now with the Lee elevation, Chief Justice pick opening up a new seat & this unexpected resignation, there’s three more opportunities. There’s not 3 names on that list I would want to see picked so hopefully with two full years left Biden ask for additional names. I doubt it however.
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2 seats for N.D. Ill! There’s also a new seat; apparently Robert Dow (Bush judge) became “counselor” to the Chief.
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One thing i am hoping for in a warnock win aside from the extra ability to confirm judges faster which is the top priority and the most important issue, the GOP has played a lot of obstructionists games with regards to nominations to the foreign service and other executive nominees. The one that got me really angry was Dilawar syed a muslim man who was biden nominee to be the deputy at the small business administration, because its 50-50 and the committees are all split, the GOP kept skipping committee hearings and thus denying the quorum for his nomination to be consider, its a vile obstructionist tactic , he was nominated on march 2021, biden renominated him again in janaury of this year but still his nomination has been blocked and is still pending for over 1 year now, warnock winning puts an end to such vile shenanigans and obstruction. The GOP claimed he was anti israel despite backing from jewish and civil rights leaders, its more than just judges , warnock winning puts an end to all this nonsense and obstruction.
Just going off a bit off topic but its really unfair how this man was treated and i believe a huge role in that was him being muslim.
Kelly loefler who warnock defeated in 2021 runoffs highlighted nancy abudu being tied and stuck in committee on her twitter account as a note on why its important to support walker, they know they stakes are high as well too.
I really hope guys like dale ho, dilawar get their due and get confirmed at the end of all this. Warnock winning is everything right now.
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The foreign service nominations can be stalled by a single GOP senator such as Ted Cruz or Josh Hawley. To end the stalling would waste valuable floor time. That is true with the quorum though, having a 1 seat advantage on committees would be huge.
“support of Israel” is just a GOP screaming point in which they accuse anyone who doesn’t support Israel to be anti-Semitic. The talking point is also used as an excuse for a huge military budget. I don’t have a solid position on Israel-Palestine but I don’t think that being pro-Palestine makes you anti-Semitic, nor does being pro-Israel make you anti-Muslim.
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For those of you that use Wikipedia, I have finished uploading a profile picture for all of the Biden & Trump judges to both the DC Court of Appeals & DC Superior Court. I’ll work on the Obama judges later.
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To go back to our earlier discussion, I’m not a fan of elevating district court judges to the circuit courts unless they are amongst the best choices for the seat. The time it takes to backfill their district court seat should be worth elevating the judge over others. Here’s my list of current Biden district court judges/nominees that if a seat in their circuit opened up, I think would be worth the time to back fill their seats;
Margaret Strickland
Jia M. Cobb
Omar A. Williams
Victoria Calvert
Elizabeth Hanes
Mia Perez
Natasha C. Merle
Jessica G. L. Clarke
Gina R. Méndez-Miró
Jamal Whitehead
Jamar K. Walker
Matthew L. Garcia
Araceli Martinez-Olguin
Dale Ho
Julia Kobick
Jonathan J.C. Grey
P. Casey Pitts
Arun Subramanian
Scott Colom
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If 10th Circuit Court George W Judge Harris Hartz takes senior status in the next two years, I’m 100% certain Margaret Strickland will be his replacement and IMO, the best choice for that seat.
If that happens, I expect her seat to be filled quickly given the high volume of cases the district of New Mexico sees but I’m not familiar enough with New Mexico lawyers etc. to know who her replacement would be.
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@Zack Jones, my top pick for NM would be New Mexico Court of Appeals Judge Shammara Henderson.
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If Harris leaves the bench, I’ve got three names I would expect to be considered heavily.
1. Margaret Strickland
2. Shammara Henderson (I had her first but after tomorrow, Biden will pass the record for most Black woman on the circuit courts with his 9th compared to 8 for all precious presidents. So that may move her down slightly).
3. Matthew Garcia
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I would lean towards Stickland or Henderson just because they’re younger then Garcia but I digress.
The most likely vacancy coming up on the 10th Circuit will be Scott Matheson Jr. (Carolyn McHugh isn’t eligible for senior status yet.)
If that happens,
Judge Robert Shelby of Utah is a pick I could see getting a lot of support given his ruling in same sex marriage cases among others.
Brittney Nystrom of the Utah ACLU would be another great pick.
Whomever it is, it’s a safe bet Mike Lee will oppose him or her, which is where having 51 senators would come in handy.
Won’t have to waste time with a discharge vote that would surely come out of that.
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While Robert Shelby did vote for same sex marriage, he’s still a Republican. I think he would have been the clear favorite prior to Trump when blue slips were still in play for circuit court vacancies. But now, I see no reason to nominate a Republican, particularly a White male, when there are so many other possibilities.
As for the Chicago vacancy, I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen 4 vacancies in one district court & all 4 are for different reasons. The vacancies are due to elevation, senior status, new seat & resignation. Here is the order I would choose to fill the 3 vacancies, assuming no additional names will be added to the 5 remaining names from the December 16, 2021 list of recommendations.
(https://www.durbin.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Durbin-Duckworth%20letter%20to%20the%20President%20re%20NDIL%20-%20December%2016,%202021.pdf)
1. Karen Sheley (born c. 1977) – Senior Staff Attorney and Director of the Police Practices Project & ACLU of Illinois.
2. Nicholas Gowen (born c. 1978) – Illinois Equal Justice Foundation.
3. Jeremy Daniel (born c. 1978) – Marine Corps reservist.
Assistant US Attorney.
4. LaShonda Hunt (born c. 1970) – Assistant US Attorney. Staff Attorney on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
5. Jeffrey Cummings (born c. 1962) – Magistrate Judge. His age alone is enough for me to put him at the bottom of the list.
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One reason to nominate Shelby would be to curry favor with Mitt Romney, who has worked closely with Democrats to his own political detriment.
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I agree that Romney should have input provided he doesn’t try to hold the seat open. Mike Lee certainly wants to hold the seat open as he’s buddies with Cruz, Hawley, & Rand Paul — Lee should be notified that “___ is the nominee and is going to be confirmed whether you like it or not”.
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No Republican senator has helped Democrats on judges more than Graham. According to DeAndrea G. Benjamin’s questionnaire, her nomination was initiated by Clyburn with minimal input from Graham before the decision to nominate her was made. i can’t see them giving Romney more power over a nomination then Graham.
They most likely will nominate somebody they know he will turn his blue slip in for (Despite it not being needed) but I seriously can’t see it being a Republican. There are simply too many other options, some that would add diversity. Circuit court vacancies are too vital to put Republicans in to curry favor.
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We have the list for Thursday’s executive meeting. It’s unlikely anybody from this list will be confirmed this year but doesn’t hurt to vote them to the floor anyway. Slight chance Durbin gets Lawless confirmed before the recess & maybe they will try for Benjamin but with all the legislation the senate still needs to work on, any from this list is unlikely.
Now if we can just get a new batch from Biden this week to set up January. 93 days with only one new nominee is killing me.
(https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/12/08/2022/executive-business-meeting)
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Some combination of the district nominees is possible since they only need 2 hours of debate on the floor. I’m also assuming there will be another vote a rama before the session breaks (although whether that ends up being 7-8 nominees or 18 remains to be seen).
Benjamin though would almost certainly get pushed to 2023 I would think.
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I’m not sure at what point Schumer will switch to legislation but it has to be sooner rather then later. Meet the Press said the following still needs to be completed before the end of the year;
1. Government spending
2. Raise the debt limit
3. Defense authorization act
4. Ukraine aid
5. Electoral college act
6. Covid aid
Out of those 6, I think 1, 2, 4 & 5 are a must. That’s at least a full week of senate time, probably a week & couple of days. There’s 2 weeks & 3 days left assuming no recess is cancelled.
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Honestly I can forgive Schumer for getting no more judges this year (especially if Warnock wins tomorrow) because the House is flipping. Out of the legislation (this is my personal opinion), I care most about ECA, getting a SOLID budget deal (this means it can’t expire in 2 months, which is something that happened multiple times in late 2021 – early 2022), raising the debt limit, Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and something else with budget reconciliation if they’re allowed to use it again. Military budget is far too high so I don’t really care about them authorizing even more of it.
That being said, Senate Democrats better be ready to be laser-focused on judges come January 2023. No stopping until every circuit court seat and every blue-state district court seat is filled.
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My understanding is that several of those can all be rolled into the omnibus spending bill. I know the Electoral Count Act can go into either that or the Military Bill. Ukraine Aid can be in either. Not sure where COVID fits in (I would guess either, assuming there’s 60 votes for it).
But you’re right, time is limited. The vote a rama would likely be the last thing on the agenda once all the legislation is done.
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Oh ok. I wasn’t aware they could combine any of those. Well if so then that dramatically helps with time. Maybe that’s why Schumer is still focusing on judges that can be confirmed with 49 Democrats. Warnock should be back in DC next week win, lose or draw so they will likely knock legislation out next week.
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Yep. In fact, after I replied to your comment I double checked and apparently Manchin and Klobuchar are now pushing for ECA to be a part of the omnibus spending bill, which makes sense.
https://www.rollcall.com/2022/11/30/manchin-and-klobuchar-omnibus-likely-place-for-electoral-count-overhaul/
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The Senators have worked between Christmas and New Year’s several times, including in 2012 and 2020. They need to do it again this year in order to get all the legislation they want passed.
I think anything can go into the Omnibus Spending Bill if there are 60 votes to add it. Only things that don’t have 60 votes have to be approved by the parliamentarian as “budget-related”.
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I hadn’t considered that possibility. Yes, the week of the 26th-29th would be a good possibility if they absolutely needed another week to get the omnibus done. I’m glad they seem determined to go that route as a continuing resolution is usually bad for everyone.
We should hopefully find out more about our schedule for the rest of the week here shortly. Very curious to see what route everything goes.
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One great thing Georgia Republicans did (Even though it wasn’t for the same reason I’m happy they did it) was change the date for the runoffs. It’s light years better Warnock is only out until after tomorrow versus January which was the old runoff date, I just want the runoff to be over with so he can get back to town. And please no more world leaders visit the USA which will cause senators wanting to meet them to take a COVID test & possibly fail it like senator Murphy did last week.
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What’s also important about the GA runoff being changed is seniority. If the runoffs kept being in January, no Georgia senator would get high in seniority because they’d have to reset every 6 years after being forced in the runoff. David Perdue lost his seniority because the runoff, even if he won his seniority would’ve been reset. If the runoff was in January, Warnock’s seat would have become vacant on Jan. 3 and Warnock would’ve also had to restart seniority if he won then.
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Great pint about the senate seniority. I remember thinking that in January 2021 but had forgotten about it until you just mentioned it. I remember then governor Rick Scott finished his term as governor instead of stepping down 4 days earlier to gain seniority over the other new senators. So he ended up being dead last despite the tie breaker being ate population with Florida being 3rd.
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I agree. The next best thing would be abolishing it altogether (or making the runoff moot by raising the standard for third party ballot access).
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Side question….Do you think DC Circuit judge Karen Hendersen will take senior status in next 2 years, or is she hardcore conservative who wouldn’t want a Democratic president to replace her ?
I guess you never know…Obama’s 4 nominees to that court replaced judges nominated by GOP presidents
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I doubt Karen Hendersen will willingly retire under Biden. But as I’ve said before 2 years is a long time & anything can happen health wise when your talking about people in their 80’s working a full time job.
What I will say is Biden needs to make sure if she does retire her replacement is a home run like his 1st & 4th picks to the court.
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Any thoughts on who to vote for in the wikipedia arbitration committee election? I have no clue but have been told I’m eligible to vote in it
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I tried to vote but was told I’m not eligible. Funny since I’ve probably added profile pics for over half the federal judges on the site but oh well… Lol
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Tell me who you wanted to vote for, explain why, and I’ll try to vote and vote for whoever you wanted. You know more than me about Wikipedia.
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I had reviewed the candidates but when I went to go vote & saw I couldn’t, I forgot since then who I wanted to vote for.
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Henderson is “only” 78 and in my opinion will not retire under a Dem president, especially one with a 51 seat majority. But I’ve been wrong before.
The DC Circuit will still be 7-4 D appointees shortly, so honestly it’s less significant that shoring up some of these other circuits with narrow majorities (4th, 10th, 9th) and making up ground in some of the R leaning circuits (6th, 7th).
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There are still a few Reagan Circuit court nominees serving full time, and a few GHW Bush nominees as well…
Biden has been able to make a small dent in 7th Circuit, and there is one more opening there after death of Michael Kanne….
I guess the 8th Circuit is hopeless, but I’m hopeful some progress can be made on the 6th & 7th Circuits in next 2 years..
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Cloture filed on Douglas, Montgomery Reeves, and Hopkins. Must be worried about Vance screwing up the nomination and didn’t want to wait til January. Voting underway on Pryor.
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Good to see Douglas and TMR getting cloture motions. You love to see that, and it’ll bring Biden to at least 28 circuit judges confirmed in his first term (compared to Trumps 30).
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Oh WOW. I guess they are considering combining that legislation like was mentioned earlier because they are going full throttle on judges now. Biden will absolutely smash the previous 8 Black woman circuit court judges with the addition of Douglas & Mongomery. Both should get Republican votes so Warnock being out should have no effect. That will bring Biden to 11 Black women compared to 8 for all previous presidents. A truly amazing accomplishment.
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Off topic, but is anyone else poltically centre-left/moderate but wants the judiciary to be as progressive/liberal as possible?
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I’ve always wanted the judiciary to be progressive, even more progressive than myself. When you look back at history, protest, demonstrations & boycotts are nice but ultimately it’s been the judiciary that has advanced the rights of the people.
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Sure, but I also think the very concept of judges claiming to be “Originalists” is BS and those conservatives are cowards and hacks.
Lets follow the intent of the constitution as written by the founders…minus the parts where they were ok with slavery, sexism, racism and the need to own land to be part of the voting class.
Yes, what was Adams originalist view of student loan relief and ramps for disabled employees.
Give me a break.
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Pryor confirmed 60-31 and more confirmation votes scheduled for tomorrow. It’s judges week!
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Interesting they’re working to confirm a PA (not Murphy) and MI judges tomorrow, thought they’d do one big voting day for districts like last December and if burning a whole day like they plan to tomorrow, that would be used to confirm another circuit nominee like in September.
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Mike, I suspect they’re going to do a mix of both.
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The announced resignation of Gary Feinerman of the Northern District of Illinois threw me for a loop. He’s considered a legal superstar. Everyone thought that the next Democratic President would put him on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. But the Biden Administration passed him over twice. Is that why he’s resigning?
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I assume, that is true, some resignations include people, who have no real chance to advance, like Abdul Kallon, who had no realistic chance for a Circuit Court position at the 11th Circuit in Alabama.
Leonard Stark was lucky to get the ticket to the Federal Circuit, no chance for him to get at the 3rd Circuit, with so few women. I also suppose, that most of White male jurists are aware, that they have not the best chances to be elevated under Biden, although they might support to bring diversity on the bench.
So district judges, appointed by Obama, and have already spent 10+ years there with no chance to being elevated, and have further 20 years until senior status might think about taking another job.
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@Thomas
Good points. That’s another reason I’m such a proponent of Democrats putting young lawyers in the bench. Had Feinerman been 47 instead of 57, perhaps he would think he had a chance at one of the two other Illinois 7th circuit seats in which judges are eligible for senior status. I know we have seen two examples this year of Obama judges that were young when Obama appointed them, but those cases are an outliner.
Speaking of Obama judges, with Pryor’s confirmation yesterday the focus was on her being Biden’s 9th Black woman to a circuit court surpassing the 8 in the entire history of the country prior, as it should be. But another thing to look at is she replaced Obama’s first announced Judge back in 2009. Let’s hope for 14 more circuit court judges to announce they are leaving the bench so Biden can pass Trump’s 54. Maybe we can get lucky some of them are Republican judges.
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That’s a good point. He is 57 and even if Rovner’s Chicago seat opened up in the next two years he’s probably too old (and a white male on top of it) to get that nomination.
I totally get his rationale and don’t blame him a bit. Biden should get an opportunity to nominate a great jurist so everyone wins.
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He might just want to make some money and sees this as a good opportunity to hand his seat over to someone with a similar judicial outlook.
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I am pleased to see Abbe Gluck getting the highest rating and disappointed that Corey Stoughton didn’t get that same rating. No matter, Hochul should still go ahead and pick either of them.
Also, how embarrassing is it that Anthony Cannataro, a current sitting judge and the acting chief, didn’t get the highest rating?
I hope Hochul doesn’t wait until the December 23 deadline to announce her selection.
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/ny-state-of-politics/2022/12/06/trial-lawyers-association-releases-ratings-for-chief-judge-nominees
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Lawd no, please governor Hochul do not drag this out. We need her to make a choice & Biden to release another batch this week.
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Looking at the 6th Circuit and the fact that we’ll probably run out of blue/purple state vacancies by summer, Democrats really need to pull a McConnell and start asking these 70+ year old appeals judges to take senior status so we don’t get another 2016 fiasco of a GOP senate handing over 17 circuit seats for a President Desantis to fill.
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I was just having that conversation last week with someone. McConnell wasn’t shy an out asking Republican circuit court judges to retire. By all accounts it seems to have worked well. I wonder if Democrats have anybody doing the same.
As for your first point, it will probably be at some point next year where we run out of seats Republican senators can’t block with blue slips. I’m not sure it will be as quickly as the Summer however. Keep in mind additional judges will retire over the coming months plus there are still numerous local DC courts (Yes I know those are Article 1 non lifetime appointments but still important to build a nice bench on those courts) seats to fill.
There’s also the two International Trade Court seats too. And that’s not including red & purple states that I think we will get nominees from like Alaska & Idaho I would say somewhere near the end of next year we may run out.
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That doesn’t work, in fact doing so will make judges do the opposite. McConnell requested in March 2020 that Republican judges eligible for senior status do so. Only 3 circuit judges (Thomas Griffith, Ed Carnes & Joel Flaum) actually did so. Trump got only 4 circuit judges confirmed in 2020; only 2 were due to judges taking senior status (Flaum’s seat wasn’t filled), the other 2 were due to a seat opened in 2017 and Amy Coney Barrett’s old circuit court seat.
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But in a way it kind of did work. If Thomas Griffith, Ed Carnes & Joel Flaum all took senior status because of encouragement from McConnell, that’s 3 circuit court seats. Of course Flaum replacement wasn’t named & confirmed because of the unexpected SCOTUS vacancy (Which was well worth giving more time to) but assuming there isn’t an unexpected vacancy in September 2024 or later, any circuit court vacancy announced before July 2024 should be filled with 51 Dems.
If any or all of those 3 did not retire when they did, that leaves the chance of them having to retire unwillingly under a Democrat president or senate. 3 seats is a lot. Remember Biden only needs 14 more circuit court judges to retire to have a chance to pass Trump’s 54. 3 retiring that wasn’t planning on it brings him that much closer to doing so. So I would say go for it quietly & behind the scenes. Maybe use a third party acquaintance but I’d take 3 circuit court judges retiring that wasn’t planning on it any day of the week & twice on a Sunday.
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Carnes announced before McConnell’s comment, Griffith denied that he resigned because of encouragement from McConnell, & I have no idea about Joel Flaum but given Flaum’s senior status announcement was so sudden and on the same day that it became clear Biden was winning (& the day before Biden officially won) I think Flaum may have been politically motivated.
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They almost lost that cloture vote, how are 6 democrats missing on a voting day!?
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I saw that. And for a non-controversial nominee too. And the lone Republican out was Murkoski so that didn’t help. I think all were at the J6 ceremony so they should be back for the rest of the day’s votes except Warnock of course.
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Kelly as in Arizona for a Biden visit.
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Hopefully after tonight, the next two years we can afford one senator to be out.
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The Kay Behm vote surprised me as well. I read that she was accused of mishandling a case of a man who claims he was arrested on false charges. Her name was removed from the suit, but some police officers involved may face sanction.
I don’t know if that’s the reason she nearly lost, it’s just that I can’t think of anything else.
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The good news keeps on rolling in. Nominations hearing next week Tuesday. Hopefully Jabari Wamble will be the circuit court nominee with at least 4 of the remaining 7 district court nominees that need a hearing. If we get another batch this week or next, the remaining nominees can be in the first SJC hearing in January.
(https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/12/13/2022/nominations)
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Sounds good to me. I definitely want to get the ball rolling on Wamble for sure. I guess Schumer and Durbin just wanted to prioritize some district nominees in the last meeting.
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Looking at the voting schedule for tomorrow, did Republicans agree to forfeit cloture time for Mia Perez??
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Correct. Senator Hassem withdrew the cloture motions for both Mia Perez & John Murphy & they will go to immediate confirmation tomorrow instead. The deal should have been for all 4 Pennsylvania judges, but I’ll at least take 2 of the 4.
7 US Attorney’s confirmed by voice vote today. Tomorrow we should get confirmation of Perez, Murphy, Scott, Hopkins & Blackwell. Now all we need is a Warnock win tonight & the next two years are looking GREAT.
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Yeah, I just noticed that on the senate cloakroom Twitter account. Very nice progress. Maybe Perez not requiring cloture is part of the Casey-Toomey deal along with Murphy.
Perez, Scott, Murphy, and Blackwell should be confirmed tomorrow, plus cloture for Hopkins.
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All of these confirmations are being done without Warnock & Murphy. I’m not sure if Schumer will continue with judges next week or go to legislation but if he wants to continue judges, he should be able to knock out a few of the heavy hitters next week.
Senator Blunt gave his farewell address today so I’m not sure if he will return. They discharged some nominees from other committees today so I’m wondering if they are leaving discharged judges for January or will they put the pedal to the medal & go full throttle next week. If either Blunt or Sasse is missing the rest of the year the Democrats will have an outright majority even before January.
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Good news for tomorrow. I’m guessing TMR and And Douglas will get cloture votes Thursday with confirmations on Monday/Tuesday.
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Back to the Northern Illinois District Court. One recommendation by the Senators is Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cummings. a former member of the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. He’s experienced and well-qualified. Except for his age, he’s everything a committed Democrat could want in a Federal judge.
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Jeffrey Cummings would be the sixth Biden Black man nominated for a federal judgeship born in the 1960’s. Please no more. We need judges born after man landed on the Moon… Lol
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Have a couple of thoughts here.
First of all, on some Obama judges retiring now, I think the fact they realize they aren’t going to go beyond district court seats and what a joke SCOTUS has become has made some of them not want to be on the bench anymore and thus are retiring now that they know like minded folks can replace them.
Also, Abdul Kallon should have been on the 11th circuit when George Sr judge Joel Dubina took senior status in 2013 but Leahy’s clinging to the blue slip cost him.
On the second point, both parties have given not so subtle nudges to judges on their side of the aisle over the years to get them to retire when they can be replaced with younger jurists.
It’s just McConnell was so obvious with it and some judges DID take senior status that he gets more credit for it then he should.
As we saw with RBG and Michael Kanne among others though, if a judge doesn’t want to go, he or she won’t which is how both sides have gotten flips over the years.
Just that Democrats have paid more of a price for it then Republicans have.
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Woooo, 51 seats baby!!!
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Yea..confirming judges just got far easier.
Time to nominate more people Joe!
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This.
No more deadlock votes.
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Let’s fucking go!
I hope Schumer schedules voted for Abudu, Bloomekatz, Rikelman, Ho, and Kato as soon as possible in January.
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Georgia comes through in the clutch again. Now Biden needs to fly to Houston, borrow somebody’s phone book, find the nearest Latina abortion clinic provider in her 30’s & nominate her for the 5th circuit. No more games. This country defied history in the Face of every obstacle imaginable. No more excuses. The only empty seats I want so see on January 20, 2025 is at a Detroit Lions game.
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I am right there with you Dequan (and my apologies Harsh for language). Schumer and Dems have earned it with 51 senators, time to cash in and go progressive.
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DeQuan you are very naive about Texas if you think this.
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Which comment about Texas are you referring to?
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Question is what to do with the deadlocked candidates.
See if Republican cave and let them get votes or just go through the motions in January and confirm them then?
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I honestly don’t want any more deals after tomorrow’s vote on the Pennsylvania nominees unless it’s with sane senators like the usual 3 & Romney. Durbin will really need to look into his soul around the Summer of 2023. He will have to decide if he wants to become this generations senator Leahy & cling to blue slips when we all know Republicans will ditch them next time they are in control.
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I would say keeping the blue slip rule for district court seats kept some really, really AWFUL nominees off some blue state district courts, including one in the seat that Anne Narducci was just confirmed to.
Given that there are more district court seats in blue/purple states, I can see why they held off doing it but at some point, the rubber has to meet the road, especially as vacancies in red/purple states keep piling up.
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Thank god Warnock won. Now they really need to go full steam ahead on confirmations, since it’s not like they’ll have anything else to do in the next two years. Biden’s first priority should now be to call up the remaining Clinton judges and charm/schmooze/suck up to them to get them to retire – if nothing else, he might enjoy actually being the younger person in a conversation for once. He might not be able to convince all of them to retire, but flattering their egos might go a long way with liberals like Clay, Moore, Wardlaw, etc.
Also, this whole abolishing blue slip for district courts is both premature and overblown. I’m still not convinced the White House is going to move fast enough to fill all the blue state vacancies, and abolishing blue slips over a vacancy in Louisiana or Mississippi is pointless when the Fifth Circuit would reverse any liberal district judge anyways.
I’m also the last person to have any faith in Republicans, but they will have plenty of vacancies in red states to fill in the next Republican administration that I doubt abolishing blue slips will be a big priority for them either – it wasn’t for McConnell from 2016-2020. Rather, the problem is that Dem senators were too willing to play ball with Trump on district court judges under the past administration: Durbin and Duckworth ok’ed three Fed Soc nuts for NDIL that have no business deciding cases for Chicagoans, and Schumer/Gillibrand did something similar for ED/SDNY. The WA senators were the only ones who did things right, and now Biden will fill all the vacancies on WDWA.
Now let’s see some nominees out of the White House – I wouldn’t be they’ll hold off until January since any names nominated now will be sent back to be renominated when this Congress ends, but I really hope not.
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I would also add Massachusetts & New Jersey to the list of Democrat senators that blocked Trump from filling district court seats. Unfortunately I’m the case of New Jersey, they just had some bad and/or old judges once Biden got elected.
I don’t see Biden waiting for January for the next batch. Remember they usually need a month after the announcement to get a hearing in the SJC so even if Biden announces nominees this week & they are sent back to be denominated, the 30 day clock doesn’t not start over on January 3rd.
MSNBC on two separate segments with different guest both times talked in depth about judges. Jen Psaki even said Ron Klein probably has a list for 51 Democrats & is going to be up all night highlighting names. It almost brought a tear to my eye. Democrats finally are getting it.
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